ANDERSON — The city laid off four employees this week, and more layoffs could be coming, depending on a county decision over whether to increase the county option income tax.
Two employees in the Anderson Police Department — a parking attendant and chemist — and two employees from the Municipal Development Department were laid off Monday, Board of Public Works Chairman Greg Graham said. The newest cuts total five layoffs within the Municipal Development Department this year.
The layoffs come in the wake of a report by Indianapolis-based financial consulting firm H.J. Umbaugh & Associates, which suggested the city would lose millions more than originally estimated from its general fund due to statewide property tax caps, also known as “circuit breakers.”
To bring in more revenue, the city voted to increase the county option income tax by 0.5 percent, which would add more than $4 million to city coffers, but the COIT increase can’t take effect unless it receives at least 51 votes in the County Income Tax Council. Either the County Council or the Elwood City Council would have to approve the increase for it to take effect.
Graham said in the meantime, city officials are expecting more layoffs.
“We do anticipate more as the budget cuts that we’re enacting begin to take place,” he said. “We’re watching the development of the (COIT) vote.
“There will be dramatically more layoffs if (COIT) does not pass.”
Graham did not know how much money the four layoffs this week would save the city, but said 25 employees cost roughly $1 million for wages and benefits.
The city’s basic plan is to cut $1 million out of the police budget, $1 million from the fire budget, $1.3 million from the parks department and to make other cuts in other departments, Graham said.
While the city will continue to provide services, some could be affected with the new layoffs, such as the police department’s crime lab. With the loss of a chemist, it might have to rely more heavily on the Indiana State Police crime lab, Graham said.
“With the substantial cuts we’ve already made, all the low-hanging fruit’s already been picked,” he said. “This is painful stuff and it’s difficult stuff.”
Contact Aleasha Sandley: 640-4805, aleasha.sandley@heraldbulletin.com.
Breaking News
City lays off four workers
More cuts on way pending COIT vote
- Breaking News
-
-
AP EXCLUSIVE: Honduras fire inmates not convicted
The prisoners whose scorched bodies were carried out piece by piece Thursday morning from a charred Honduran prison had been locked inside an overcrowded penitentiary where most inmates had never been charged, let alone convicted, according to an internal Honduran government report obtained by The Associated Press.
-
Police discover drugs, paraphernalia in home
Police have arrested two men they say were involved in the manufacturing and selling of methamphetamine.
-
GM records its highest profit ever: $7.6 billion
General Motors earned its highest profit ever last year.
-
Foes allege Sen. Lugar doesn't really live in Indiana
The charge by GOP challenger Richard Mourdock is just the latest in a series of them levied against the Republican senator by an unlikely alliance of Democrats and conservatives who have joined forces to argue Lugar no longer has much to do with Indiana.
-
State police arrest man for trafficking with Pendleton inmate
State police made an arrest Wednesday morning, after prison staff at the Correctional Industrial Facility noticed a man throw a package over the fence.
-
Boy testifies at grandfather's child abuse trial
A 9-year-old boy testified Wednesday that his grandfather hit him in the face, causing his nose to bleed, and kicked him and his two brothers during a pair of miles-long hikes at the Grand Canyon last summer.
-
Adult education GED classes offered
Anderson Community Schools is offering classes in GED preparation, English Language classes and Basic Education Refresher classes for the 2011-12 school year.
-
18 indicted in western Indiana meth investigation
A federal prosecutor says 18 people have been indicted on federal drug charges as the result of a multi-agency investigation of a methamphetamine distribution network in western Indiana.
-
Whitney Houston's death spurs look at her doctors, meds
It's become standard-operating procedure when a celebrity dies too young — investigators immediately go looking through their nightstand and medicine cabinet. That effort is well under way in the death of Whitney Houston.
-
No cussing in class for teachers, lawmaker says
A teacher's role may be to expand a student's vocabulary, but one Arizona lawmaker wants to make sure that doesn't include four-letter words.
- More Breaking News Headlines
-
AP EXCLUSIVE: Honduras fire inmates not convicted
Top Bargainers Announce Payroll Tax Cut Deal
Student Photos 'hijacked', Used on Porn Site
Should U.S. Arm Medevacs in Afghanistan?
Foreclosures Rise Only Slightly, More Expected
Old Friends, New Mission: China VP Visits Iowa
Jeremy Lin a Slam-dunk for Knicks and Fans
Defense Begins in UVA Player Murder Trial
More Than 350 Die in Honduran Prison Fire
Defiant Iran Loads Own Fuel Rods Into Reactor
Raw Video: Syrian Army, Rebels Battle in Homs
Video Essay: Saving the Miami Blue Butterfly
NYPD Officer Shot During Subway Confrontation
Iranian Boats Shadow US Aircraft Carrier in Gulf
Hundreds Rally Against Alabama Immigration Law
Whitney Houston Funeral to Be Invitation Only
New Details in Search for Missing Utah Mom
Raw Video: Protesters, Security Clash in Bahrain
School Pays Students to Attend Class
Trial Opens for Ala. Man in Bride's Diving Death
Baltimore's 'Crime Stopper' Is a Basketball Star
